SanjeevBhaskar

Growing up in Ealing, west London in the socially turbulent 1970s, Sanjeev Bhaskar learned from an early age that humour and impressions could be used as a shield from confrontation.

His comedy ambitions blossomed while studying for a marketing degree and, encouraged by friend and musician Nitin Sawnhey, Bhaskar realised nobody was writing from the experience of being British and Asian.

Together the pair started gigging as stand-up double act Secret Asians and were eventually spotted by producer Anil Gupta, who invited Bhaskar to join his team for a new Asian sketch series: Goodness Gracious Me.

A huge success on Radio 4 and then BBC TWO, this consistently funny show made the versatile Bhaskar a star and he followed it up with another hit: The Kumars at No. 42, (alongside his wife and Goodness Gracious Me co-star Meera Syal).

This novel format saw him play TV host Sanjeev Kumar, who tries to broadcast a celebrity chat show from his parents' living room and its success was crowned by winning an International Emmy.

As well as guest-hosting Have I Got News For You? Bhaskar has since acted in a number of dramatic roles for both TV and film.